Horror theme Termination: Again and again you hear about people who have been terminated without notice because of a small offense. in the Interview with Sophia von Rundstedt the case of an employee who was terminated on the first day after parental leave. What are employers allowed to do? 10 tips.

"We have protection against dismissal!"

When the story of the employee went through the press, which was dismissed by his boss on the very first day of his parental leave, the question always swung, "Can that really be? We do have protection! "

The protection against dismissal by trade unions in fierce labor struggles seems to become increasingly a relict, employers would prefer to abolish it altogether in the course of global flexibilisation and competitiveness, as is the rule in most other countries.

A few days later, by the way, the next story of this kind went through the press. In both cases the problem was solved: The company had fewer employees than 10. And thus the protection of the protection was virtually obsolete.

But otherwise the protection against dismissal is not always valid, but much more often than many thinkers the sword of Damocles hovers over the heads without notice. For example, with gross breaches of duty.

Sickness must be credible

An employee was sick after a violent argument with her boss for the next weeks. The fact that the certificates of incapacity for work which she issued during this period were issued by a different doctor and different reasons of illness, made the head suspicious and he announced to his co-worker without notice.

There was also no legal action against dismissal: the judge ruled that the dismissal is admissible without justification, because the deliberate pretense of incapacity for work is a serious duty violation.

Issue of smoking breaks and insults

In another case, an employee was terminated without notice, because he had paused without the permission of the boss. However, he had not explicitly prohibited the breaks, nor had he been warned beforehand, so that termination without notice is problematic.

And even in the case of an office worker who had insulted their superiors as a "stupid cow", the labor court declared the dismissal ineffective, because the special circumstances were taken into account: A warning would have been sufficient.

Dependent on the individual case

The examples show that it is not always easy to say when a termination is really appropriate - because often this depends on the individual case and the circumstances. But the fact is: If an employer wants to terminate an employee, he must be able to give a reason under the Protection Against Personal Injuries Act (KSchG) if the employee works longer than 6 months in a company employing more than 10 full-time employees.

One reason can be, for example, a redundancy-related termination: the employer must prove that "operational requirements" such as a decline in sales force him to terminate the contract. If an employee is not suitable for a job due to technical or physical reasons that are outside his sphere of influence, such as a permanent illness, he or she may be terminated on a personal basis.

Termination without notice is possible

In addition, there are redundancies that an employee owes himself to by misconduct - for example, if he violates company secrets or has an unauthorized side job. Usually, however, the employer must first admonish before he can pronounce a behavioral termination.

This is different in the case of gross misconduct on the part of the employee, for example, if he steals something or uses the internet privately despite the prohibition. Here the employer can terminate immediately and without notice.

Termination after parental leave is just one of many cases that went through the press - in addition, even made cases in which people were dismissed for insults, for example, in social networks, the round. But what are the reasons for termination without notice?

Termination for good cause?

There must be an important reason in Germany for terminating an employment contract without notice.

And the legislature sees, when facts are present, that the continuation of the contract is unacceptable. Specifically, it says in §626 BGB:

The employment relationship may be terminated by any party for good cause without observance of a period of notice if there are facts on the basis of which the terminator may continue the employment contract until the expiry of the period of notice or up to the agreed termination of the employment relationship can not be expected.

The cancellation can only be made within two weeks. The period begins with the date on which the person entitled to the notice acquires knowledge of the facts which are decisive for the termination. The terminator must notify the other party in writing of the reason for the termination without delay.

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